This indicator shows the number and percent of the PHO enrolled New Zealand population recorded as having diabetes in the VDR.
Diabetes affects a significant proportion of the population in New Zealand, and an even larger number are estimated to have prediabetes (Coppell et al 2013; Health New Zealand 2023). It is estimated that about 307,000 people are diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes disproportionately affects Pacific peoples, Indian and Māori populations when compared with European/other ethnic groups (Health New Zealand 2023). Children and young people are increasingly being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, in part related to increasing obesity rates (Sjardin et al 2018).
Understanding variation in the prevalence of diabetes is crucial for long-term health care planning. It helps to predict future health care needs and allows for the development of sustainable strategies to manage and prevent diabetes.
Diabetes is associated with substantial health care costs, both direct (eg, medical treatment) and indirect (eg, productivity losses). Understanding variation in prevalence can help estimate the economic burden and plan for health care expenditure accordingly.
It should be noted that we used PHO enrolment data as the denominator for the diabetes prevalence indicator, replacing Stats NZ estimated population projections. This ensures alignment and consistency with the Health New Zealand VDR web tool. However, we acknowledge that some population groups are more likely to be unenrolled compared to others. For more information on access to primary care by demographics, please see www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/for-health-providers/primary-care-sector/primary-health-organisations/enrolment-with-a-general-practice-and-primary-health-organisation.
Count of distinct master NHIs identified as having diabetes as per the VDR
Note: Women diagnosed with gestational diabetes are not included.
PHO enrolments for relevant years.
Disaggregation
For single map analysis: By year (2018‒22), age group (0‒14 years, 15‒24 years, 25‒44 years, 45‒64 years, 65‒74 years and 75+ years), gender (female and male), ethnic group (Māori, Pacific peoples, Indian and European/other) and Health New Zealand district of domicile.
For PHO analysis: By year (2022), age group (0‒14 years, 15‒24 years, 25‒44 years, 45‒64 years, 65‒74 years and 75+ years), gender (female and male), ethnic group (Māori, Pacific peoples, Indian and European/other), PHO most recently enrolled with (for the relevant year), PHO group (small, medium, medium‒large and large).
- Data is not presented where the number of people in the numerator was less than 10. This is to preserve confidentiality.
- Ethnicity data presented is prioritised ethnic group (Māori, Pacific peoples, Indian and European/other).
- For all indicators, individuals with missing values for any of the variables of interest (age, gender, ethnicity and district) are excluded completely. For instance, if there are any missing values for age, they are excluded from all analyses. This approach ensures a consistent denominator throughout the analyses.
- Since we aggregate data for the numerator and denominator separately for this Indicator, we use demographic information from the Virtual Diabetes Register (VDR) for the numerator and from the Primary Health Organisation (PHO) Enrolment Collection for the denominator
Exclusions
- People who died during the year
- People not enrolled in a PHO